These books get me through hard times
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 มิ.ย. 2024
- If you want to support my work, subscribe on Substack: jaredhenderson.substack.com
Join my Discord server: / discord
If you're going through a rough time, maybe these books will be helpful. They've helped me.
→ Books
Consolation of Philosophy: amzn.to/3L7YKbj
Hardship & Happiness: amzn.to/4c17v2H
Plato's Complete Works: amzn.to/4cjM6lv
The Intellectual Life: amzn.to/4c7fOtQ
A Canticle for Leibowitz: amzn.to/3yZzhOc
Letters to a Young Contrarian: amzn.to/4cnbKoJ
The Peace of Wild Things: amzn.to/3xpLueH
→ Video Gear
Mic: amzn.to/3Uw7ZVw
Recorder: amzn.to/3Tz1uQp
Camera: amzn.to/3Ust3MT
Camera (upgrade): amzn.to/3EFGW4e
Lens: amzn.to/3WXbAhd
Lens (upgrade): amzn.to/3SA49KM
These are affiliate links with Amazon. The channel earns a commission from each purchase - but it doesn't cost you anything.
00:00 - Beginning
00:44 - Boethius
03:47 - Seneca
07:21 - Plato
11:22 - Sertillanges
13:36 - A brief interlude about Le Guin
14:08 - Miller
16:36 - Hitchens
18:09 - Berry
During hard times I read the very hungry caterpillar.
❤
When the world is really dark, my go to book is Little White Dogs Can't Jump.
During hard times i read hentai
@@armitageshanks2499lol I understand the reference
I read children’s books for comfort quite frequently. The world is too complicated, and I just need to stop and breathe.
Ecclesiastes is one of my favorite books to retreat to when I am in hard times. Almost a existentialist/nihilistic Christian text that bring me so much comfort.
Jared, this is your best video. I think due to your circumstances and - at least to my perception - the way your delivery has slightly changed, i found your words deeply moving. Good work. I hope this channel takes off and you can continue growing as a modern day teacher and philosopher.
Funny, because there's actually a lot of value in academics coming out of the university system and coming to make videos !
I agree with you. this is a great video by Jared. He seems more relaxed and (even t hough we don't know him) I imagine, he seems more himself.
I love your adorable doggo rolling around on your couch!
The Consolation of Philosophy in the thumbnail, therefore I must like
Having a hard time right now and Dostoyevsky's TBK is bringing me comfort.
Just started that a couple of weeks ago myself. Interesting so far, and I have had to make myself a cheat sheet to keep track of all the character names.
@@greyone40 i'm around page 450 and so far i'm really enjoying it, i'm taking a day or two break right now just to let the parts i've read thus far simmer in my mind.
CP puts things into perspective for me, as does Hard Times and The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist
This is the only fiction novel I reread, just the chapters of Alyosha...
@@estranhaformadevida51 Alysha is incredible, no doubt.
As a Christian Minister, who is also trying to revitalize the love for the arts and philosophy among young people. Thank you for your content. It has helped me to often remember how I started on this journey and how to help others start as well.
Excellent supporting performance from the canine friend on the sofa in the background
Your dog in background😊😊
I enjoyed seeing the pup as well. 🐾
@@kimclenard I love my pets..
I'd like to recommend 'Station Eleven'. A postapocalyptic novel at this time sounds depressing, but I found it uplifting. It works on multiple levels, and is replete with reference to visual arts, music and theatre. The core of it is the importance of the arts - 'survival is not enough' is a motif - and the way the characters express through art and theatre things they otherwise can't articulate. I saw the series and it blew me away, and then I read the novel. The two aren't perfectly aligned - they're almost like 'parallel universe' stories - same and similar characters and main events, but slightly different things also happen - so they are both well worth your time. I had not read seriously for a very long time, and after Station Eleven, started reading/watching Shakespeare (of course) as well as a wide range of novels.
Agreed! I loved "Sea of Tranquility" by Emily St John Mandel, it also has a similar vibe plus time travel!
I left my corporate job in 2005, and I've never regretted it. I made a lot more money than I would have if I had stayed in corporate America, and I've had unbelievable experiences and freedom. It was the best life decision I ever made. 15-20 years from now, I think you might feel the same way.
Good for you
What did you end up doing?
@@joeyes4178 Lots of stuff. Search engine marketing, owned a bookstore, did some consulting...
@@joeyes4178^ This would be super helpful for us who are younger (and for anyone) to know what you did!
What do you do now?
I feel like I'm never not feeling down, overwhelmed, or troubled in some way. I fall back on The Tao Te Ching, The Way of Chuan Tzu, The I Ching, Edgar Allan Poe, and H.P. Lovecraft. I often consider getting a copy of the Hávamál.
The piece that is greatly influencing this leg of my journey is the story Keng's Disciple in The Way of Chuan Tzu.
"When I don't know, people treat me like a fool. When I do know, the knowledge gets me into trouble. When I fail to do good, I hurt others. When I do good, I hurt myself. If I avoid my duty, I am remiss, but if I do it, I am ruined. How can I get out of these contradictions?"
- The Disciple
I have gotten great comfort and peace from Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". Especially as a teacher: "I really hope you have been teaching Quality this year" hits home. Herman Hesse's "Der Steppenwolf" and "Siddharta", And somehow re-reading a part of "the Hitchhiker's guide" always cheers me up. Oh! and anything by Tom Robbins (Jitterbug Perfume!).
reading on the shortness of life gave me wisdom 12 years of schooling could not give me
Surprised if nobody has already said this, but Emerson's writings put everything in perspective for me. As Nietzsche said "felt so at home in a book; felt so much, indeed, as if the home were my own".
I had trouble thinking of books I read during hard times. I think it’s probably Tolkien.
Me too. Tolkein is full of wisdom - and at the same time, escapism.
Tolkien is an excellent choice.
You have unleashed the beast within you... If it goes this way, you really will have to thank your employer for this for laying you off... You are on your self discovery path mate...
I have my best wishes with you.... you are going to rock
When I am feeling down and discouraged, I reread Jane Austen. Tolkien and the Lewis trilogy work, too. Sometimes, rereading old favourites from childhood cheers me up -- The Secret Garden, or even the Narnia books. As you see, I'm looking more for rest and recovery rather than help figuring things out.😊
Shout out to the Secret Garden.
Here's the first words of an ad that played immediately after your video. "I'm going to show you how to write a book in an hour with this new Ai tool." I couldn't help but laugh. Weird times.
Always good to see you talking books Jared. Would enjoy a 'Top 10 contemporary works of fiction you MUST read' video.
I just finished A Canticle for Leibowitz yesterday and tweeted about it. It's even better the second time around.👍🏻
Your videos bring peace to a young humanities student all the way over to Portugal, and they also serve as a big inspiration and motivation every day. Thank you. All the best wishes to you!
I would say the Bible, but then also comfort reads like Jane Austen. Wendell Berry’s poetry is excellent. I would also say Saint Augustine’s Confessions. Also, when I am stressed reading Agatha Christie is fun.
I honestly read A Song of Ice and Fire. It's my favorite series and it always makes me feel good and it absorbs me into it. I love it.
Took the UCBerkeley Latin Intensive over a summer long ago, and afterwards read The Consolation of Philosophy in Latin. It was one of the most beautiful experiences I’ve ever had; one that acted as a kind of balm.
I'm a scholar in a field disposed to depression and when I'm down I fall back on Nietzsche. I've simply never encountered a philosophy more aggressively life-affirming and aesthetically beautiful than Nietzsche's project from Birth of Tragedy to Ecce Homo/Contra Wagner. I must have read Daybreak and Gay Science 10+ times each by now. Moving away from the desire to see or create a moral order in the world, in favour of an aesthetic affirmation of life in its totality, has been emotionally liberating.
If I ever get to voyage through an TH-cam channel of my own that honestly exposes my flawed intention of being "good" and "moral" maybe I'll feel proud of myself. Even through hard times you manage to be an inspiration; for that, congratulations, Jared.
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain is one for me. His struggles earlier on in his career as a chef helped me to see that things can change even if you feel like you're burning up all of your opportunities and hitting rock bottom
I loved "Goodbye Darkness" by William Manchester. I've read it multiple times and I've enjoyed it on Audible, too. William Manchester has passed on, but in life he was a WWII veteran who served in the Pacific theater, fighting the Japanese in places like Iwo Jima and Okinawa. His account is often hair-raising and quite gruesome actually (fair warning), and yet it is also very vivid, sublime and deeply humbling. This is someone who has seen the hell of war, firsthand. His account gave me some perspective, that's for sure. One of my favorite aspects of his story is that even after seeing things and living through things that would leave most of us completely trashed in the brains department, he went on to build a great life for himself after the war; he earned multiple college degrees, got married, had kids and taught at Wesleyan University. He also wrote 18 books. I am amazed at his resilience, and his ability to rebuild after going through so much. I am moved by the power of his example. His writing style is also possessing of a "voice" that I've come to trust. It has a way of pulling you in. His other books are good too, but "Goodbye Darkness" is a book I find myself coming back to over and over again. I can't recommend it enough, but especially to anyone who's going through hard times.
I'm reasonably certain my dad read all his books, he was fascinated/obsessed with the military history WWII in the Pacific. He's gone now, but thanks for giving me a title to hunt for that I could manage. Will I find this one in his collection? Something to hunt for, thanks! (the library has a copy, if not ... )
Canticle for Leibowitz!! Hell yeah, great book. I thought i was one of only two people on the planet who's read it, but youve proven me wrong. Cheers, hope things get a little less stressful for you.
That video was from the heart man. Keep up the great work! Also your dog in the background gave me a good laugh 😂
love the videos. So simple yet so complete .thank you for the time you spend for making such a content.
Wendell Berry is almost certainly the wisest American author currently living (knock on wood!).
Yay new video! Just love your videos honestly. And strangely enough, immersing myself in Dostoevsky usually gives me a lot of comfort and peace of mind.
"Meditations of Marcus Aurelius" usually works for me, as well as Epictetus and Lucretius. Also, anything by St Augustine of Hippo. Maybe that's just the Roman Catholic in me, but there's something calming about communing with the mind of a man who seems genuinely interested in the common ground between faith and philosophy.
I'm shocked De Profundis was not on the list.
Hey I really liked your video about Stoicism and would enjoy a similar one on Neoplatonism! I study History and it has come up a few times but I haven't fully understood what it is all about yet. I think that would be interesting to understand philosophy in Late Antiquity & the Middle Ages and Christianity better. Thanks in advance!
Best wishes and happy reading.
love love these sorts of videos.
sincere and thoughtful insights. thank you.
Exceptional effort, thank you for this video.
I have a good video idea thats relevant to me. What are some good desk books for periodic reading?
like if i had a book on my desk that during a downtime could flip to a page and read it and just be able to think on that. Like quotations of so and so, or a writer with very good prose, or just poetry.
Not Jared obviously but I like the alchemist, daughter drink this water and the Tao de ching
@@Ms.Irod2024 Thank you for the reply, I'll check them out!
Thank you for the great content. It was very informative and well-presented.
Not only was your video well executed, I've added alot of new books and authors to my personal reading list to help me go through life purposefully. Thanks Jared!
This is so good. Thank you for the recommendations. I am also going through some difficult career-related struggles at the moment and looking for sustenance.
I love your channel. Keep up the great work.
I was excited to see you were going to talk about Boethius ! Thanks
I started reading philosophy back when you did the podcast on Apology, and now I have bought that same complete works for my birthday to continue my exploration of Plato. I look forward to reading some of the books in this video and seeing the channel grow more!
I am glad i found this awesome channel. I love you man.
Your endeavour is not merely a TH-cam channel; it's magic. I haven't even watched this video, but your videos are simply just beatific. इन खूबसूरत पलों के लिए धन्यवाद ।
2 books come to mind for me... Bhagavad Gita and Siddhartha.
I would love to see your library one day of all these books!
Thanks for the video man! Can’t wait to read your writing.
For me, personally, I read Schopenhauer when I’m down, which sounds like maybe it would make shit worse, but it actually makes me feel better, about my mindset and how I see things, like talking with a close friend.
Good vid!
I like Diogenes quotes because, like your dog in the background, he just gets it and doesn't need to over think it.
😂 your comment made my day
I think Mao's little red book will get people through hard times as well as Sertillanges' book.
Very useful, thanks!
Erich Fromm's 'The Art Of Loving', Brad Warner's 'Sit Down And Shut Up' are books I've re-read when circumstances made me feel like I needed them again.
Love Brad Warner!
Great video!! Thanks for sharing
Thank you for the video! For me, it's Tolstoy's War and Peace, really brings me peace whenever I pick it up.
During tough times, I find myself reading Eckhart Tolle. Specifically, The Power of Now, A New Earth, and Stillness Speaks.
A New Earth is definitely one of the books I reach for in trying times. 📖
I'm not gonna lie and I know people might hate him, but I love some good Charles Bukowski. Although most of his poetry and novels are revolved around women and being drunk and drugged all the time, but, there is just some charisma in the man, that helps me. But of course, I don't feel the need to drink while reading his work. Another book is Kafka on the shore, I do love me some Murakami
Thanks for the video, Jared. I feel like I’ve got the golden handcuffs on myself. Much of my time and energy is spent working on things that I don’t hate but don’t love either. All so I can make time for the things that feed my soul.
While I definitely empathize with your recent predicament of being laid off (and can attest that it is not fun), part of me wishes for this forced push into freedom.
I picked up “The Intellectual Life” on your recommendation. Looking forward to getting that in the mail. Thank you as always for the insightful video. Books have often seen me through some choppy waters as well.
incredible video. I have watched some of your videos piecemeal, but this made me subscribe. absolutely amazing discussion with so much depth to it, makes me want to respond to you and converse about what everything you mentioned. can't wait to see more from you.
I would like to share two books that are really good for coping with life.
"Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way" by Kieran Setiya
"The Road Less Traveled" by M. Scott Peck
"Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult-once we truly understand and accept it-then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters."
M. Scott Peck
To recognise that life is hard, could be a very freeing experience. When we stop having great expectations and just try do to our best and develop ourselves intellectually and mentally, then we potentially could be at peace and living a contented life.
Your dog has amazing ears!
It's been rough for me at times as well so I really appreciate these videos. I'm hoping to add Senecas Hardship and Happiness but have never heard of Boethius so thanks for the valuable insight.
you have talked about it on the channel before, but i do think the gay science by nietzsche is such a great hard times read.
nietzsche suffered a lot, and often didn’t live up to the ideals he created. the way he enforces a sense of vitality, of not being a passenger in your own life, of loving fate and using it to power oneself - it really jolts you out of your stupor and gets you on your feet with a real drive.
HI Jared, loved the video, particularly its candid nature. I find great inspiration in your pursuit of your passion, which is a path I am trying hard to follow. I will use your success to help build mine.
As for book recommendations, I am a big fan of Herman Hesse's "Siddhartha". Short but meaningful, I find myself frequently referencing its teachings and recommending it to people who need it.
Great video!
Thanks to you, Jared, I read A Canticle for Leibowitz. what a grweat book about resilience. Thanks for the suggestion.
For me, Poetry, Romantics, Wordsworth, e.g Tintern Abbey
Though I liked all the recommendations, the last one was what I needed, even just the title poem. Thank you! And if you havnt done one would love a poetry reccomendations video.
Boethius, I return to once a year or so.
That being said, wishing you the best man. Sounds like you're going through a lot and I feel for you as I'm also a philosopher in a corporate world.
Thank you for this video and wish you the best. Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning has been a go-to for time in trying times, as has been Dostoevsky's writings.
Hi Jared. First, I should say that I'm confident that you'll figure out your way through this phase. You're such a thoughtful person, and anyone who has an accurate understanding of reality is bound to succeed in this world eventually.
Regarding the books that inspire me during tough times: I like David Whyte's book "essentials". I also like "The Heart of Awareness: a translation of Ashtavakra Gita" by Thomas Byrom
In Parfit's _Reasons and Persons_ are a lot of thought experiments about why should we value future happiness over past happiness, or why should we value our own happiness over happiness that other people experience. It's laborious reading, and I don't hold to consequentialism as a theory, but a lot in that book to think about. And amen to Canticle for Liebowitz!
When times are tough, I read Maggie Nelson. Really, anything and everything she’s written is quite valuable; she’s not only comforting, but she exposes my vulnerability by challenging me and my thought processes. She’s incredible.
There is a difference between living long and existing long. Touche.
Keep going!!! ❤❤❤
I do not but I am knew to philosophy. So I have plenty of new books to read and learn from.
My main challenge has been with anger and Seneca’s book on anger has been such an eye opener and has helped me have a new perspective. When I get upset, I remember a few quotes from that book.
The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron. ....." for this was now the plain of Balkh, and Balkh they say is the oldest city in the world". Looking forward to reading Walter M Miller.
I love that Hitchens book as well. In fact, you might have inspired me to revisit it. As far as the books I lean on, they would probably be the collected poems of both Jim Harrison and Allen Ginsberg. There's also a collection of letters between Ginsberg and Kerouac I take comfort in. Also Cormac McCarthy's novel Suttree. I recently read At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill and I imagine it will become one of those books as well. My wildcard pick would be John Waters' memoir Mr. Know It All.
I cannot believe that there are so little comments about THE DOG at the background. I absolutely loved that content is still very Jared, but it is delivered in less polished way. I have a plan to read A canticle next or this year. Also got hooked with the Intellectual life description. Thank you for your amazing work!
Gates of fire - steven pressfield. That book gives me courage
oh I love Pressfield's historical novels. For me at the time they were mainly escapist, but perhaps I need to re-read from where I am now.
Aurelis, Marcus Meditations (Penguin, trans. Staniforth Maxwell), Early Christian Writings (Penguin, Louth & Maxwell), Zen Flesh Zen Bones, Thich Nhat Hahn The Art of Mindful Living, TNH Living Buddha, Living Christ, Williams, Rowan Spirit in the Desert (TH-cam: audio/video)
Thanks
This came at the perfect time for me. I'm struggling a bit - deadend underemployment, getting older, artistic block, and a bunch of other stuff (not to mention the state of the world) and I feel philosophy should help me set my compass again. I really appreciate your conversational sharing of these works. Too many youtube philosophers are rather strident and 'on message'. I too want to be on a voyage but I just don't quite know where to. I'm trying to navigate classicism and modernism; I want to push back against cold rationalism but without embracing anti-intellectualism. I don't know. I think I'll go back to Heraclitus for a while. I feel like I need some of that kicking the wheels of the universe a bit.
Yaay! New Video
My go to is Brendon Burchard's The Motivation Manifesto. One of the greatest personal call to arms books written and it has been a candle in the dark for me quite a few times.
Wishing you the best of luck! Hope you can make TH-cam/writing work for you
Descartes' Meditations. I like the book, and I do not agree with his conclusions. So I get a funny kind of comfort that even such as great mind (not comparing myself with him) could get it so wrong.
I read a fantasy book during hard times!
I highly recommend Hard Laughter by Anne Lamott , not a traditional philosophy book but about the authors life when finding out her father has brain cancer. How her family copes and lives with it. Incredibly funny too.
....meanwhile, your dog already has it all sorted out!
14:11 I am so happy that you mention how much you loved The Dispossessed! I am working through the Hainish Cycle currently and I really liked it more than The Left Hand of Darkness. It doesn’t seem to be a popular opinion right now.
I tried to read this cycle a while ago and couldn't get into it. But I think perhaps it was the wrong time. I'll try again.
@@booksnphilosophy If nothing else, try reading the short stories, or Five Ways of Forgiveness! They’re beautiful!
I agree with other commenters -- this is one of your best videos. It is personal.
I would add A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation by Thomas More. More wrote this as he was awaiting execution. He was convicted of treason, which usually was punished by being drawn and quartered. He did not know that his sentence would ultimately be reduced to beheading. Also, Anatole France's The Gods are Athirst.
This is a great list, thanks! Sharing it with several people I think will enjoy it as well.
Also (sorry, I might have asked this before), have you read any of Le Guin’s poetry? I know you’ve said before that poetry isn’t really your thing, but it’s really good imo and I’d highly recommend it. Cheers
the best addition to your video was your dog! 💕 We need more of him! what is his name?
On another note, I am looking for some of the books you suggested, but in kindle form~
Jared, if you want something from the Indian philosophical corpus for hard times, I'd suggest Ashtavakra Gita.